The Orcs Must Die! MOBA is happening

Chances are, if you’re developing a PC game in 2014 it’s either a MOBA or a first-person open world survival game. Orcs Must Die! Unchained is a MOBA. That’s a bit of a departure from the formula of the previous two Orcs Must Die! titles, which were third-person tower defence-ish things.

Now, instead of one vs lots of orcs or (in the case of the sequel) two vs lots of orcs, matches will be 5 vs 5. Participants will choose a hero from either the Order (refounded by the War Mage and Sorceress after the events of Orcs Must Die! 2, apparently) or the monstrous Unchained. Rather than just defending against attacks with your traps, you’ll be doing that and leading calculated forays against the enemy’s own trapped base too. AI allies will play a part too, much like the creeps of DOTA 2.

“Dozens” of playable heroes are planned, and their respective equipment sets and semi-helpful AI allies will be determined by unlockable cards. When the game launches in late 2014 it will be free-to-play. Maybe there will be some sort of monetary connection between those two details.

Robot Entertainment is making the usual “we won’t do any pay-to-win” noises about Orcs Must Die! Unchained that every prospective free-to-play developer makes as a pre-emptive strike against such suggestions. But the proof will be in the payment models; and there are no details of those at the moment.

Excluding, of course, the Founder’s Packs. You can already shell out $150.00 USD on a pack for a game we have barely any information about, because that would be a wise purchasing decision. That includes “$200.00 USD” of in-game gold, so that’s some pretty hefty in-game purchasing fees all-but confirmed.

The game is playable at PAX East this weekend, so if you happen to be at that event you can track down Robot Entertainment’s booth to give it a go.